November 19, 2008

***WARNING*** if you attempt any project that uses explosive materials please exercise extreme caution. These videos show you how to make a smoke grenade (second video) and how to make a pull ring that will allow it to be ignited just like a grenade.

The fuse is a cool idea, however… Cooking Sugar and KNO3 on a gas burner like bomi says is very dangerous. This is because it can create hot spots on the bottom of the pan. Your mixture is quite likely to ignite while you are cooking it using a pan over a gas stove. A better method is to use an oil bath under the pan containing the sugar/KNO3 mixture. This will provide an even amount of heat across the surface of the bottom of the pan. A hot plate (like the ones you used in chemisty lab back in the day) will also work.

Also, for the love of god,, don’t do this in your kitchen as demonstrated in the video, I think that’s just common sense. If you are really gungh ho about doing this, research it a little more (stay away from amateur videos like this) and buy an outdoor stove to do your cooking on.

For some detailed instructions on how to get this done relatively safely check out the link: http://unitednuclear.com/smoke.htm the website sells the stuff you need (although it can be kinda pricey) and has other cool experiments you can try out.

The KNO3/Sugar mix burns too hot to vaporise the dye, it simply burns it. Coloured smoke from a KN mix is the holy grail of rocketry and many experiments have been done with little result – the most promising result so far can be seen here: http://www.trailertrashaerospace.com/AHPRA_8.23.03.htm (two photos near the bottom half of the page).